ROK Air Force Pilot Accidentally Jettisoned Weapons and Fuel Tanks While Trying to Adjust an Air Vent
It sounds like a human interface issue has been discovered in this aircraft. You would think it would not be this easy to accidentally jettison parts of the aircraft like this:
A South Korean Air Force pilot mistakenly pressed the emergency jettison button while attempting to adjust the heating in a KA-1 light attack aircraft that accidentally dropped its weapons and fuel tanks last week, authorities said Monday.
The Air Force said the pilot was attempting to adjust an air vent that was disrupting his vision when the incident occurred at 8:22 p.m. on Friday over Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province, during a nighttime mock firing exercise.
The vent and emergency jettison button, which measure 3.5 centimeters and 3.3 centimeters in diameter, respectively, are located close to each other, contributing to the confusion, authorities said.
“The pilot, who was wearing night vision goggles, reported that strong wind was blowing into his helmet through the ventilation system. While trying to adjust the heater controls near the air vent, he mistakenly pressed the emergency jettison button,” Lt. Col. Jang Dong-ha, spokesperson for the Air Force, said during a press briefing in Seoul.
You can read more at the link, but fortunately no one on the ground was injured from the jettisoned equipment.
During the initial years when the F22 went operational, they had incidents where the night vision goggles malfunctioned. In the case I know of, the pilot was blind for a few minutes, and it was during a time they were making a maneuver that was pretty dangerous. It was lucky they got out of it okay. I can see how this might happen.
Better they find out now than in a war.